Why It's Time To Take MLS Seriously! | Explained

as major league soccer gears up for the start of the 2022 season there is notable change in the air now into its 27th edition the number of aging stars heading to north america is on the decline and in their place a crop of exciting american and canadian talent is emerging from within during his state of the league address back in december the mls commissioner don garber even dismissed the notion it was a retirement league adding that it was creating more value for his players than ever before the recent transfer market activity supports garber's claim and with the world cup set to hit north america in 2026 these are special times for soccer across the pond now is the moment for the mls to cement its place among football's world order but how did a certain david beckham helped transform the major league's fortunes what are the numbers behind its monumental rise and how has it managed to replace its image as a graveyard for old pros with some of the brightest talent in the game for our latest euro football daily explained we're heading stateside to find out it was seminal and it was a hurricane and nothing can prepare you for the hurricane that is david beckham those are the words of alexi lalas the former president and general manager of la galaxy who in 2007 stunned the global football community by bringing golden balls to california the former england captain was only 31 had just finished playing for real madrid and was one of the most recognizable faces on the planet needless to say his arrival would change the mls forever straight away galaxy netted a record-breaking five-year shirt deal worth 20 million dollars with herbal life nutrition and saw their season ticket sales swell to 11 000. then even before his formal introduction it was announced galaxy had sold a quarter of a million shirts featuring beckham's name if you hadn't heard of the mls before you certainly did now the powers behind the division realized that this was their moment tim luecki owner of five of the 12 franchises at the time declared they had to stop treading water saying we're either a dog in the middle of a lake doing the paddle to survive or we're going to shake this off think big and change the league forever put short if soccer was ever going to crack america this was their chance one of the first major changes beckham inspired was the adjustment to the salary cap that had previously held back any excessive spending in the cash strap division in order to pay the former united star his 6.5 million dollar annual salary a designated player rule was introduced which gave three players besides an exemption to the cap the beck and rule as it would later be known ushered in a wave of big names into the u.s starting with de nielsen at audio arena and by 2011 the likes of thierry henry and rafael marquez had joined the party the galaxy alone field aside featuring beckham landon donovan and robbie keane which according to tim lewecky set the standard going forwards that changed everything and showed us what we could be but the salary cap had existed for a reason not everyone welcomed backs with open arms and surely after the designated player all came into effect don garber warned of the ghost of the nasl that accompanied his arrival a predecessor to the mls in 1986 the north american soccer league collapsed in dramatic style after a wave of overspending on outdated south american and european stars crashed the division's economy pele's arrival at the new york cosmos in the late 70s had triggered the failed arms race and concerns existed that the beckham effect could cause history to repeat itself only three years earlier in 2004 the miami fusion franchise had collapsed with the mls deep in 250 million dollars worth of debt so there were legitimate concerns however the appetite for soccer in the 21st century america was far greater than the world pele discovered football had continued its growth as a global and commercial phenomenon while the evolution of social media and the broadcasting landscape created an environment where the mls could exist comfortably alongside competitors like the nba and mlb by 2012 an espn survey discovered soccer was the second most watched sport in america among 12 to 24 year olds and by 2014 fox espn and univision had agreed to pay 90 million dollars per year for domestic broadcasting rights that deal will expire in 2022 and according to cnbc any future contract could be valued between 200 to 300 million dollars per season thanks in part to an englishman soccer was finally able to live the american dream major league soccer is here to stay and the numbers point to a division that has only got stronger in the post-becca era for a start fans haven't faded from the stadiums in the 12 years following beckham's arrival average attendances have jumped 40 to a peak of 21 000 a rate that has only continued to grow despite the impact of the pandemic there have been some significant milestones too such as when atlanta fc packed out the mercedes-benz stadium to the tune of 72 548 people back in august 2018. it was a division record that only today has come under threat after charlotte fc revealed they're on course to sell 74 000 tickets for their debut home match against la galaxy in march tv ratings have also shown strong audience retention new york city's victory over portland timbers in the latest mls cup final drew a peak of 1.6 million viewers on abc almost double what the 2019 showpiece event pulled in and a thanksgiving clash between the timbers and colorado rapids drew 1.8 million viewers the most for an mls match since a 14 year old freddie ado made his debut for dc united back in 2004 but it's not just the major events that are drawing attention on average viewership improved 18.5 last season to around 276 000 people per match while it's predicted that the mls is now shown in 190 territories worldwide and media interest in north american football is only set to increase with the expansion of the league's cup currently contested between eight sides from mexico's liga mx and the mls in 2023 all 47 teams from the two respective divisions will compete in the month long competition with canada usa and mexico all set to host the 2026 world cup it's hoped the new format will drum up more north american interest in soccer than ever before the mls is also continuing its expansion charlotte's fc will officially become its 28th franchise this season while in 2023 that number will rise again once in lewis city fc are launched more teams like a las vegas franchise could follow but getting involved in the mls is no longer a cheap venture it cost toronto fc just 10 million dollars to join the division in 2007. yet by 2015 new york city fc were being charged 100 million dollars that number doubled for sunday city while charlotte fc would build a massive 325 million dollars to enter the game that might seem like a lot but the successful growth of the division has made it a price worth paying in 2021 sportico estimated that the average mls franchise was worth 550 million dollars and improving in value by 30 percent year on year lafc lead the way with a valuation of 860 million dollars closely followed by atlanta fc and la galaxy it's even been estimated that the average mls club is worth more than every premier league team outside the traditional big six entering major league soccer has become lucrative business while the lack of relegation means their investments are secure and there aren't any signs the league is going to stop improving anytime soon for all its success one stereotype the major league has struggled to shift is that it's a final destination for aging stars in their twilight years the likes of gerard pillow and drogba all finished their careers in the states but this trend is slowly being reversed in his state of the league address don garber declared their buyer's league image was balancing out adding we're reaching the point we're able to create value for the players that we're investing in the facilities that are training them and becoming a league that's involved and engaged in the international marketplace no different to any other league this process started as early as 2008 with the introduction of the homegrown player rule which allowed mls teams to sign players directly from their academies without an allocation process and homegrown stars will also benefit from the launch of the mls next pro this season a developmental league designed to boost competition among their youth squads and create a stronger pathway to the seniors but for more information on how north america is producing so much talent check out or explained on efd have a look in the description below clubs have invested heavily beyond their squads too 20 of the current franchises play in football specific stadiums with nine opened in the last five years alone while millions are being poured into new training facilities across the continents sporting kansas city opened their 75 million facility back in 2018 only marginally more than the 50 million pound complex david beckham's into miami built ahead of their launch wages are soaring too by 2024 the minimum an mls player can earn will be 109 200 per year up 55 on its current rate and the overall salary cap will rise 36 to 11.6 billion dollars per year too these financial incentives plus the modernization of the division is helping increase its appeal to talent from the americas atlanta's mexican head coach gonzalo pineda recently discussed how young players with aspirations of playing in europe look at the mls with good eyes with aspects like the multiculturalism competitiveness weather and professional commitments helping it close the gap on liga mx as a place to develop all these factors recently contributed towards a historic transfer market for the mls a teenage ricardo pepe became the most expensive american departure ever from the major league when fc augsburg bought him for 20 million dollars while daryl dk cost west bromwich albion 9.5 million dollars and an 18 year old kevin paredes set wolfsburg back 7.4 million with everyone hunting for the next alfonzo davies major league talents now comes at a premium and there is a clear change of strategy for incoming transfers too well-known faces like journal and shaqiri and douglas costa have arrived the mls has also flexed its muscles in the hunt for the next south american star take orlando city who replaced nanny with a 21 year old for cundo torres from penarol in uruguay then atlanta would go one better capturing thiago almada from velas sarsfield for a major league record 16 million dollars considered one of argentina's best young players his signing is testament to the mls's massive improvement and a marker for its ambitions going forward soccer in america has come a long way since beckham arrived 16 years ago but as investment grows and the quality continues to rise you get the feeling the mls is just getting started so that was our look at the numbers behind the extraordinary growth behind the mls in the past 15 years how much respect do you think david beckham deserves and where do you think the mls will go next let us know in the comments down below if you enjoyed this video make sure you give it a like subscribe to euro football daily and let us know what other subjects you want us to cover thanks again and we'll see you next time

Channel: Euro Football Daily

Views: 109,699

Keywords: football, soccer, premier league, serie a, bundesliga, ligue 1, eredivisie, la liga, Football Daily, Euro Football Daily, European Football, Football Highlights, stat wars, sunday vibes, continental club, champions league highlights, sky sports news, sky sports highlights, barcelona, real madrid, juventus, psg, bayern munich, messi, ronaldo, neymar, euro transfer talk, one on one, EFD Explained, dortmund, bt sport, bt sport highlights, MLS, Beckham, Alphonso Davies, Keane, Donovan, Mbappe

Id: qgi3NZqUQt0

Length: 10min 14sec (614 seconds)

Published: Sun Feb 13 2022

Reddit Comments

[u/ATLCoyote]

One statement that caught my attention was that the average MLS club, with value of more than $550 million, is now worth more than all but the "big 6" in the Premier League.

That's pretty stunning, if true. More valuable than Everton, West Ham, and Newcastle? Wow. Even if the quality of play on the field isn't on the same level, that's nevertheless a pretty exciting benchmark for the league's growth potential.

[u/[deleted]]

The World Cup being here I think is gonna be a good boost for the growth. That and maybe a young, homegrown phenom, would really spike up the league.